History Is Being Recreated With Google Earth

Friday, October 29th, 2010 at
1:08 am

History Is Being Recreated With Google Earth-Image by Galt Museum & Archives on The Commons via Flickr

Very few events in human history is so mammoth like the World War II that has so much immense spatial
breadth and temporal extend which is extremely difficult to understand and relate by those who are too young to have lived it. Many movies, history books and photographs present individual locations and events about World War II then the entire picture and theory. Hence in coordination with archivists in these countries including London in 1945 are to be addressed by the launch of an historical imagery in Google Earth in a number of new areas.

The latest published data reflects the reality of daily life back then like deprivations, militarization, bombed buildings and the actual appearance of then secret facilities.

All of London in the year 1945 awaits your exploration. Enjoying it is easy. Log on to Google Earth or just tune it on and install if you are not among the 700 million who already have access to it. Simply type London as your desired destination in the upper left corner in the space provided for the same. Next, click on the icon that represents a clock to enable historic imagery. Scroll backwards and select the date to 1945. Ou will be simply astonished to discover numerous interesting places like Short Streets near Waterloo station displaying the bombed/cleared area that is now the Young Vic theatre and even the intersection of The Cut.

Going back to the 66 years of visual history is also possible in war-time Paris, France. You can easily study scenes of everyday life in those historic times and view monuments to Napoleonic-era victories during war-
time occupation.

Both of these countries emerged from such devastating tragedies with elevated vigour and optimism and also with the enthusiasm and optimism to dedicate their country for mapping. The images of both
countries today can be viewed in Street View on Google Earth and Google Maps in addition to aerial viewpoints. Just click to enable the Street View layer in the lower left for Earth and drag the Pegman onto your viewport in Maps when you’re looking at most anywhere in France or the United Kingdom.

Several other cities in Europe are also already available for the purpose of historical imagery. A vibrant city full of people can be seen in 1935 but in 1945 we are the witness to the destruction of 85% of the buildings, in addition to the palaces and bridges.

Pictures of past times and places are making their entrant to Google Earth with all credits to archivists around the world, who work dedicatedly to present the evidences through the historical imagery feature. You can scroll back and forth once enabled, through time to create and recreate history with the aid of your fingertips. In fact, these images might provide you with the benefit to view and share your memories of former places and those past times with others.